Educational appliance



Nov. 16 1926. 1,607,329

D. R. WESTLAKE EDUCATIONAL APPLIANCE Filed Feb. 17, 1925 BY v A T TOZEX Fatented Nov. 16, 1926.

UNITED STATES LDON' B. WESTLAKE, .OF .ARLINGTON, HEW JERSEY.

EDUCATIONAL AIEPLIANCE.

Application filed February 17, 1925. Serial No. 9,769.

This invention relates to an improved device for arranging a series of strips which are arranged to slide in a casing so that the letters of the alphabet can be successively exposed in order to spell words by means of these exposed letters and it is primarily designed to be an aid to the construction of words and thus aid in the solving of cross word puzzles.

The device is adapted to be used with ease and t emphasize the word or rather the letters exposed by concealing from view the other letters on the strip and providing at the same time for an easy handling of the strips in the casing usually by means of an ordinary pin but, of course, it will be understood that any other pointed instrument such as a sharply pointed pencil can be used.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a face view with the front sheet partly broken away to show the construction of the device and Figure 2- is a section on line 22 in Figure 1.

The device comprises a casing which is preferably made of cardboard with the front sheet 10 and a rear sheet 11, these being usually held slightly separated by the edge strips 12. The casing thus formed provides a that structure with an inside adapted to receive the strips 13. These strips are arranged side by side and can be made'of any material such as celluloid or metal but I prefer to use heavy paper or cardboard.

The strips are arranged to slide endwise.

and are of a size to fit within the casing so that one guides the adjacent strip and no particular guiding means other than the strips themselves is necessary; The strips are provided with letters, usually with the complete alphabet, as at 14: these being ar ranged. vertically and can be successively displayed through the opening 15, the opening 15 being but slightly larger than the size of the letter so that only one letter on each strip can be displayed at one time.

Above and below the opening 15 are longitudinally arranged narrow slits 16, these being staggered, that is, each alternate one is arranged above or below the opening 15 and the strips 16 are made very narrow so that there is no confusing exposure of the letter other than the ones shown through the opening 15. The face of the device is therefore somewhat blank except for the letters that are necessarily displayed through this opening.

The narrow slit also guides the sharp pointed instrument such as a pin, the point of which acts as a means for sliding a strip and also guides the pin so that there is no side movement possible tov cause any lateral movement of the strip. This is desirable in cases where the strip being manipulated has its major portion extended far beyond the adjacent ones. This is necessary as with somewhat flexible material the strips would soon become disarranged and tilted and one would work underneath the other and the device would be useless. lVith this construction it will thus be evident that it is an article not subject to disarrangement but at the same time being of the simplest and cheapest construction.

It will also be noted that each strip has the slit into which it is manipulated extending to only one side of the opening 15 since too many slits, one both above and below the opening would make the front sheet 10 too flexible. I therefore make each strip 14 long enough so that it extends from one end of the casing, thatis, one end of the inside or strip receiving portion, to a point beyond the nearest end of the slit through which it is manipulated. For instance, at a I show the end of a strip which has been slid down to its lowest point of travel but the upper end of. which is still available for use through the slit through which it is manipulated. This arrangement of the parts permits of sufficient stiffness to the front sheet 10 to allow the use of relatively thin cardboard without the cardboard being bent to an extent to permit the strips 14 to become overlapping.

In using the device the strips are successively slid until at least a part of a word has been established and then by slowly sliding the other strips the appearance of other letters in the word is usually sufiicient to enable the user to visualize the desired word. In this specification it will be noted that the device is used as an aid in solving cross word puzzles but it will be evident that it can also be used as an educational device in teaching the spelling of Words for the arrangement by pupils of the letters in Words 01 the desired sequence.

I claim:

A device of the kind described comprising a casing of fiat form, fiat strips slidable side by side and each guiding the adjacent one, the casing having a central transverse opening and narrow longitudinal slits above and below the opening, each strip being of 10 a length to extend from one end of the easing to the nearest end of the slit on the opposite end, each strip having the alphabet arranged thereon, the slits in the casing being arranged alternately above and below 15 the opening.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

DOls It. WESTLAKE. 

